Preview | Oxford United (A)

25 October 2019

Oxford United v Rochdale | Grenoble Road, Sky Bet League One, Saturday 26th October 2019, 3pm Kick-Off

Dale travel to Oxford United on Saturday, looking to extend their winning run to four consecutive games.

Tuesday night’s win over MK Dons saw Brian Barry-Murphy’s side move into the top half of the table.

Karl Robinson’s Oxford are on a fine run of form themselves, having won five of their last seven games, and currently sit inside the playoff positions in sixth.

PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW

Brian Barry-Murphy has praised his players' dedication ahead of Saturday's game.

Click HERE to read what he had to say or watch in full HERE.

OPPOSITION VIEW

"I saw them on Tuesday night against MK Dons and they move the ball really well and attack with real energy."

Read what U's boss Karl Robinson had to say on Dale HERE.

TEAM NEWS

Click HERE to read an injury update from Barry-Murphy.

ADMISSION DETAILS

Dale fans who didn’t purchase a ticket in advance can pay on the day at Oxford on Saturday.

Please note, it is cash only from the North Ticket Office. Click HERE for full details.

GRENOBLE ROAD

Check out a Visiting Fans’ guide to Grenoble Road HERE.

MATCH ODDS

Sky Bet are offering odds of 19/4 for a Dale victory on Saturday. Click HERE for the full betting preview.

Make sure you select Rochdale as your favourite team on your Sky Bet profile, as Dale will receive 50% of any losing stake!

REF WATCH

Referee | Nicholas Kinseley

Assistant Referees | Adrian Tranter & Gregory Read

Fourth Official | Oliver Jackson

FLASHBACK

Dale’s last win at Oxford United came in November 2004. Can you name of the players in the pictures below?

We've found four pictures from our 1-0 win at Oxford United in November 2004 📸

Can you name the Dale players in the pictures? 🤔#RAFC pic.twitter.com/VLQmQly9iz
— Rochdale AFC (@officiallydale) October 24, 2019

HEAD TO HEAD

Oxford United	Draws	Dale
9	10	8

WE’VE GOT IT COVERED

Fans in the UK can listen to match audio commentary on iFollow, whilst overseas supporters can watch the match live! The programme will start at 2.45pm.

New for this season, match audio passes are available to purchase for just £2.50 for UK users.

Click HERE to subscribe to iFollow or purchase a match pass.

To access commentary/watch live via your desktop, click on the 'iFollow' tab on our navigation bar. Hover over the 'More' tab and more selections will appear, which is where the 'iFollow' tab is located. Once you’ve clicked through, a link will appear on the left-hand side of the page for you to access the commentary. This will appear on the site around half an hour before kick-off.

We will be tweeting live updates throughout the match on Twitter, and follow our behind-the-scenes content on our Instagram story (@officiallydale).

Match Reports

Report | Oxford United 3-0 Dale

26 October 2019

Ten man Dale were beaten 3-0 by Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts scored twice in seven first-half minutes through Josh Ruffels and Tariqe Fosu, before Aaron Wilbraham was sent off shortly before the break, leaving Dale with ten.

Brian Barry-Murphy’s side were resolute in the second-half, but Oxford sealed the win through Sam Long’s strike four minutes from time.

There was one change from Tuesday’s side that started in the win against MK Dons, as Aaron Wilbraham came in for Ian Henderson, who started on the bench after being unable to train since that win.

Matty Done and Eoghan O’Connell both fired efforts over for Dale in the opening stages, but the it was the hosts who broke the deadlock on the 20-minute mark.

A inswinging corner was headed back into the mix by John Mousinho, allowing Ruffels to stab home beyond Jay Lynch from close range.

Fosu tested Lynch with a free-kick from range, with the Dale stopper spilling the intial effort but collecting the loose ball at the feet of an onrushing forward.

The hosts doubled their lead in the 27^th minute. A cross from the right was controlled and smashed against the crossbar by Cameron Brannagan, with Fosu cushioning a volley into the far corner from the rebound.

James Henry couldn’t make a solid connection on a cross from Chris Cadden when in on goal, before Lynch made a fine one-handed save to deny Jamie Mackie.

Dale were reduced to ten five minutes before the break, when Wilbraham’s challenge on Fosu was deemed dangerous play by referee Nicholas Kinseley, who showed the forward a straight red card.

Lynch saved a header from Mackie comfortably on the stroke of half-time, before Mark Sykes fired over from inside the area after the break.

Henderson was introduced shortly after half-time for Aaron Morley, before Fabio Tavares also came on in place of Matty Done.

Substitute Shandon Baptiste and Henry both fired efforts off target for the hosts, before the former’s shot which was turned goalwards by an Oxford man was superbly saved by Lynch on the line.

Dale had the ball in the back of the net when Henderson chested down and fired home, but he was judged to be offside from Eoghan O’Connell’s diagonal ball.

The hosts sealed the victory with a third goal four minutes from time, when Long fired into an empty net after Lynch had done well to save Henry’s fierce shot.

Standings